Sports: Matt Shell tabbed coach of the yearPublished Jan. 13, 2013

A dual-threat quarterback who was also capable of drilling long-range field goals.

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And, above all, a smothering defense that did not fold, rather thrived, under pressure.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake football coach Matt Shell had a roster this fall that was the envy of most of Section II football; more than a handful of the players on the bottom end of his depth charts had a skill set that could have easily landed them a starting job at another Class A school.

In Shell's system, however, they put up all-star numbers.

The Spartans' high-octane, Wing-T offense posted 565 points in 13 games and their defense held opponents to a little more than 10 points a night. The Spartans won their final 12 games of the season and beat Sweet Home at the Carrier Dome last month to earn the school's first state title.

For his efforts, Shell has been named Ballston Spa Life/Saratogian's high school football coach of the year.

"It was just one of those groups," Shell said of his team, which finished 12-1. "They rose to the occasion and they left no doubt that they were going to be the best team on the field that day."

Shell has guided Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake to four trips to Syracuse in the past five years, but the first three endeavors came up short. The magnitude of the team's accomplishment set in after the season.

"You see the kids in school, there's a different aura about them," Shell said.

But that statement held true throughout the season. It sounds cliché, but the Spartans truly did treat every game as if it was being played before thousands of fans in Syracuse.

"I thought that was unique about them," he said. "They brought that focus every week."

One of the main reasons for that is the Spartans returned a good number of starters from the 2011 team that lost in the state title game, and those players wanted to get back to the dome and win.

That's been true of many of the past Spartans teams, however. This year, they actually did it.